Almost eight months after losing her right eye in a testing accident, former Marussia test driver Maria de Villota has been cleared to drive again.

The Spanish racer told AFP that while she still suffers from headaches and that “very busy days take their toll,” her recovery has gone well. In addition, her love for driving is still intact despite her ordeal.

“The distances I can already calculate quite well and it feels like nothing ever happened,” said de Villota, the daughter of former F1 driver Emilio de Villota. “At the end of the day, my natural habitat is in a car and I am happiest in that environment. I missed it.”

De Villota was injured on July 3, 2012 at Duxford Airfield in England after crashing into the back of a Marussia support truck following the end of her first straight-line test run.

Last October, she spoke of the incident at a press conference in Madrid, Spain, and revealed a newfound appreciation for life as a whole.

“Before, I only saw F1, I saw myself in a car competing. I did not see what was important in life, the clarity to say: ‘I am alive,'” she said in Madrid. “It has given me my bearings, given me back what’s important. I accept it with the energy to say I am going to live out this chance 100%.”

We certainly wish Maria de Villota all the best in her continued recovery.